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Entries with the tag: John+H.+McConnell
McConnell- A Friend To The Fans
by Paul on 04/26/08 at 08:32 AM ET
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from Michael Arace of the Columbus Dispatch,
John H. McConnell died yesterday. He wasn’t quite 85 years old, and he had an incredible life. It began in a house that did not have electricity. It ended in a hospital where he donated a tower.....
He liked the players, and told them to play for one another. He liked the game, the toughness of it, the stress it put on team play. He thoroughly enjoyed sitting in his box, up there in the corner above sections 106 and 107, and seeing the arena fill up for a major-league sport right here, in Downtown Columbus. I have no doubt he was happy that the Jackets will play on, indefinitely, beyond him. That was the point.
When they showed his face on the Jumbotron, he’d wave and the crowd would cheer. That’s not a normal owner-fan relationship, but it’s not surprising in this case. McConnell’s intentions were always transparent and pure and it was impossible not to like the man, and admire him. The jamokes in section 216, row Z, had a bond with him.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Columbus Blue Jackets | KK Hockey | Permalink
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Blue Jackets Majority Owner Passes Away
by Alanah McGinley on 04/25/08 at 05:39 PM ET
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From Michael Arace and Ron Carter at The Columbus Dispatch:
John H. McConnell, son of a steelworker, father to a new branch of the steel industry and majority owner of the Columbus Blue Jackets hockey team, died today after a long illness. He was 84.
Despite his business success, he never forgot his hardscrabble beginnings, the iconic industrialist who ran Worthington Industries as if he still wore coveralls. He was known as “Mr. Mac” to one and all, and when he removed the cigar from his mouth, he talked plain.
“It just came natural,” he said in a 1996 interview. “You don’t cheat. You don’t lie. You help your neighbor.”
continued... (*thanks to a KK member for passing on this news)
Update 6:27pm ET: A tribute to McConnell from the CBJ organization…
Filed in: NHL Teams, Columbus Blue Jackets | KK Hockey | Permalink
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Columbus Owner Discusses His Team
by Paul on 09/23/07 at 07:05 AM ET
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from the Columbus Dispatch,
With a new leadership group intact, and with the Blue Jackets’ seventh NHL season drawing near, McConnell sat down with The Dispatch last week for his first public comments since MacLean’s firing.
Question: What are your expectations for the 2007-08 season?
Answer: I say the same thing every year, but I think we’re going to win, I think we’re going to be better. Better than last year, for sure.
Q: Blue Jackets fans have never had a chance to watch a winning hockey club. How tenuous do you feel the fan base is right now?
A: It might be a little bit. But I think with the changes we’ve made, the fans are going to stick with us. They want to see how the new regime works out....
Filed in: NHL Teams, Columbus Blue Jackets | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: columbus+blue+jackets, John+H.+McConnell,
